


She & Her

by Dresupi



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 500 Words Challenge, Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Darcy Lewis-centric, Dreams and Nightmares, F/F, Femslash February, Femslash February 2020, Ficlet Collection, First Meetings, Fluff, Karen Page-centric, Morning After, POV Alternating, POV Darcy Lewis, POV Karen Page, Rating May Change, Reporter Karen Page, Secrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 6,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22511845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dresupi/pseuds/Dresupi
Summary: Darcy and Karen's relationship over a year, told in 500-word vignettes.  All connected.  From when they meet until they get engaged.
Relationships: Darcy Lewis/Karen Page
Comments: 68
Kudos: 34





	1. begin

**Author's Note:**

> I'll post a chapter a day for Femslash February.
> 
> I'm using prompts from [sigridhr's list on tumblr](https://sigridhr.tumblr.com/post/190519322525/femslash-february-2020-prompts-for-darcyland-help).
> 
>   
> 

Darcy wasn’t exactly looking for a date. But she also wasn’t looking to _like_ talking to one of the reporter scumbags who came for her press conference either. But here was Karen Page with the New York Bulletin, with her long legs and blonde hair and cute-as-hell smile… She couldn’t really help liking Karen. 

All her boxes were ticked. Tall. Blonde. Gorgeous. Giving her bi-fi a run for its money. 

“So where does the Avengers PR consultant find herself going on say, Friday nights?” Karen asked, smiling in a way that was too cute not to be genuine. 

“Home, mostly. These idiots give me a hell of a time. Off the record, of course.” 

“Of course,” Karen smirked. 

“ _On_ the record, these heroic members of society keep me so busy and entertained, I don’t have time for a social life,” Darcy replied. 

“That’s gotta be difficult,” Karen said. “Surely you could take one night off if I can.” 

“Oh, you’re going to be there, on this fictitious night out?” Darcy asked, laughing a little. 

“Totally. And it’s not fictitious, it’s happening.” 

“If a newspaper reporter can take a night off, it’s a fictitious night.” 

“Shows what you know. Name the place and time and I’ll meet you there for drinks.” 

“You know Vivian’s? In the West Village?” 

“No, did you just make that up?” Karen asked, giggling a little as she shifted her bag onto her shoulder. 

“Definitely not. Look them up. I’ll meet you there on Friday at seven. It’s got piano karaoke, so bring your vocal cords.” 

“Never leave home without ‘em,” Karen laughed. 

* * *

Darcy was pretty sure she was being stood up. Except she spotted her tall, blonde beauty craning her neck by the front door over the rim of her mojito. 

She extended her arm as high as it would go and waved. “Hey, Karen!” Hopefully, her voice was loud enough. 

It took another two times of yelling her name for Karen to see her, but she was grinning from ear-to-ear as she made her way to Darcy’s table. 

“Hey! Sorry I’m a little late, I got lost and was too stubborn to call you.” 

“I probably wouldn’t have heard it anyway,” Darcy replied as freely as she was able. Like she hadn’t been checking her phone every thirty seconds to see if Karen had called to cancel. “You’re just in time, though. I’m singing after this woman.” 

“What song did you pick?” 

Darcy shrugged. “Not sure, I tend to pick them when I get up there. It’s this fun thing me and my bestie used to do when we hit these places up together.” 

“Used to? So you don’t anymore?” 

Karen totally picked up on nuances like no one else Darcy had ever dated. “She moved away, so not so much anymore.” 

“Oh. Sorry. That sucks. I’ve had friends move on too.” 

“Nah, it’s really okay. She’s happy. I’m happy.” 

“Happy looks good on you,” Karen grinned. “Looks like you’re on.” 

“Looks like you’re right.” 


	2. winter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's from Karen's POV. They won't always switch, but I'll try to make it even. ;)

Darcy huffed out a sigh and flopped back on Karen’s couch, her hair splaying across the place Karen had just vacated. 

She felt herself lamenting a little about why Darcy couldn’t have just _done that_ while she was still sitting there. Having Darcy’s head in her lap sounded like as good a way as any to spend the cold afternoon. 

They’d somehow found a day where they both were off. And it had been snowing too hard to do anything other than gaze out the window and dream of warmer days coming. Or grump and grouse silently to herself, in Darcy’s case. 

“You okay?” Karen asked. “Cabin fever?” 

“From a few hours in your lovely apartment? Not at all,” Darcy sighed. “I just… ugh. I’m thinking about my commute tomorrow. How gross and cold and frozen and gray it’s going to be. Double ugh.” 

“New rule. You can’t worry about tomorrow’s work today,” Karen giggled. 

“You might wanna take some of your own advice there, Ms. I-can’t-Skype-with-you-I’m-on-a-deadline.” 

“Look, you know if I have to look at your pretty face, I won’t get anything done,” Karen reiterated. “And having a deadline isn’t worrying about tomorrow’s work, it’s likely worrying about work that’s due an hour from then.” 

“Hah, true,” Darcy said, blowing air up to ruffle her bangs. “I hate this weather though. I can’t wait for it to be spring so I can have my plants on my balcony again.” 

“You’re sick of them living in your apartment?” Karen laughed. 

“No, not at all. I’m just… sick of _all of us_ being cooped up.” 

“We can do fun things cooped up,” Karen insisted. She could think of at least twenty, but they all required them to be wearing less clothing. And she wasn’t sure they were there yet. 

“Can we, though? I feel like all we do is sit around.” 

“That’s it, I’m cooking you dinner.” 

“No. Stop. Police,” Darcy deadpanned. “What are you cooking?” 

“I dunno. Something warm.” 

“Soup,” she suggested. 

“What kind?” 

“Something with cabbage. I like the way it squeaks around in the bowl. And bacon. I like the way it bacons.” 

“Cabbage and bacon? What about… carrots. And potatoes? And leeks?” 

“Is this another one of your fictitious fantasies, Kare? Because if it is, I’m gonna kick you. I’m gonna get up and walk over there and kick you.” 

Karen giggled. “No. But I do need to go to the store.” 

“Shotgun,” Darcy called. 

“Did you just call shotgun when there’s only two of us?” 

“I absolutely did, and I think that should answer any remaining questions you have about me as a person.” 

“Oh, it does,” Karen replied with a smirk. 

Karen already knew quite a few things about Darcy. Like, for instance, food was a way to her woman’s heart. So she was going to try and cook more of it from now on. She made a mental reminder to add the Great British Bake Off to her watch list. As soon as possible. 


	3. morning

Karen’s nose wrinkled when she woke up. Her window blinds had been shoved just slightly to the side and now the sun’s stupid-bright rays were splashing directly across her face. “Gah,” she grunted, smacking her hand over her eyes and reaching over to straighten the blind. 

The heaviness in her limbs rolled over her like a warm wave of comfort. There was that pleasant stretch in her limbs that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Not since the last time she got laid, anyway. 

She extended her arm to the side to feel an empty bed. Darcy must have left sometime in the night. Not long ago, given that there was still a teeny bit of residual warmth left there. 

That must have been who’d bumped the blinds. While she was on her way out? 

Karen was disappointed. She couldn’t help but feel that way, but then again, they hadn’t really talked about where this was going. But still. It was their first night together. Like this, anyway. Would it have killed her to stay? 

Grimacing, she reached for a pillow and pressed it over her face. It smelled of kiwi and soap. Basically like Darcy smelled. She groaned and tossed the pillow away from her. 

That’s when she heard the sound. A rattle out in the kitchen. 

Instinct told her to grab her gun, but the whispered swears peppered with tiny ‘ows’ put her nerves at ease. Not an intruder. Just Darcy. 

Who hadn’t left? Who was out in the kitchen. 

Karen rolled over and swung her legs to the floor and stood to stretch. Her bathrobe was hanging on the back of the door, so she grabbed it and tied it around her waist as she made her way out to the kitchen. 

“Hey you,” Darcy said brightly. “I made coffee. And pancakes. Well, mostly made pancakes. I need to flip these and they’ll be done.” 

“You stayed,” Karen replied, grinning as she surveyed the slight mess in her kitchen. “And you’re making breakfast. I didn’t know my kitchen could make pancakes.” She liked to cook, but breakfast was never her forte. She was never up in time. And it was a lot more work than soup or a salad anyway. 

“You _are_ woefully underequipped. We should stay at my place next time.” 

“ _Next time_?” 

“Yeah, I’ve got all the stuff. The pans, the bowls. The pancake flipper.” Darcy punctuated by flipping the pancakes in the pan, only serving to make a slight mess of both of them. “I’d say that those are mine, but they’re all kind of looking that way…” 

“They’re perfect. Can’t wait to eat them. I’m not sure I have syrup, though…” 

“I borrowed it from that single mom who lives down the hall. I saw her when I was on my way to that corner shop down the street and she said we could borrow it. Cool, huh? You’ve got nice neighbors.” 

“What I have is a nice girlfriend,” Karen replied, beaming. 


	4. quiet

She’d been quiet for a long time. Darcy knew it wasn’t a great sign when you met your super hot, super tall girlfriend for lunch and then didn’t talk for ten minutes. But that was what was happening here. 

The envelope sat there in her bag, taunting her with its unopenedness. 

In Karen’s defense, though. She was handling it well. 

Darcy opened her mouth to speak a couple of times but nothing happened. 

“So you got your acceptance letter?” Karen asked. “I figure it’s that, or you’ve lost the ability to speak. But I’d like to think if that happened, you’d just text me a series of emojis so I’d be able to figure it out.” 

“Why emojis?” Darcy blurted. 

“If you can’t speak, you can’t write either.” 

“But it’s just speech I’ve lost. Not communication.” 

“Doesn’t seem like you’ve lost either, now that you mention it,” Karen smirked and Darcy huffed out a sigh and reached into her bag, pulling out the envelope and sliding it across the table. 

“There it is,” she said, her voice trembling as much as her hand was. 

Karen picked it up and turned it over in her hands. “You haven’t opened it.” 

“Of course not. If I do that, it has all the power.” 

“It’s an acceptance letter,” her girlfriend assured her. “Never felt a ‘we’re sorry’ letter with this much bulk.” 

“You think?” Darcy asked. “I mean… it’s only the fourth time I’ve applied. It’s definitely thicker than the last three times.” She reached for the letter and ran her fingers across the place where it sealed before turning it over and running them over the Columbia return address printed there. 

Karen grumbled. “They were dicking you around.” 

“To what, get my application fee?” 

“Yeah. It’s not just yours. It’s everyone who applies. They want multiple application fees out of you.” 

“Hush you. I’m excited.” 

“So open it.” 

Darcy fell silent and set the envelope on the table. She stared at it for a few moments before pushing it towards Karen. 

“You want me to open it?” she asked. 

Darcy nodded. 

“I have to hear you say it, babe,” Karen reminded her, taking the envelope in her hands. 

“Open it for me, Kare.” 

“You got it,” she said, sliding her nail under the seal and ripping it open. She pulled out the documents inside. 

“Ms. Lewis, we regret to inform you that you have to send us at least two more application fees to be accepted into our prestigious institution’s graduate program. Please look at the forms you’d get if you actually got accepted, however. Just so you know what you’ll be getting if we ever actually accept you.” 

Darcy scoffed and grabbed the letter. 

“You got in, goober,” Karen kicked her softly under the table. “You got in.” 

“I got in,” Darcy repeated, scanning the letter just to be sure. “I got in.” 

Karen grinned and reached across the table to squeeze her hand. Darcy leaned over and kissed her instead. 


	5. alone

It was a cloudy, dreary kind of day that greeted her upon waking up.

Karen had kissed her goodbye about twenty minutes before Darcy dragged herself out of the warm bed and into the kitchen. There was enough coffee left in the french press for one more cup, even if Darcy did have to microwave it a little to warm it up again.

As she sat there, surveying Karen’s kind-of-clean kitchen, attached to a dinette that could use a good sweep or two, Darcy knew how she was going to spend the morning.

There was nothing better than coming home from a hard day at work to a clean apartment. Especially a day that promised to be as dark and damp as this one did. She’d give Karen’s apartment a once or twice over, take out the garbage, and be back at her place just in time to be there for the UPS guy, who was scheduled to bring her plant-mail at around eleven.

Darcy started up high. Cleaning the counters and wiping down the stovetop. Then, she swept the floor and dumped the dustpan before replacing everything back in the closet.

Karen had a Roomba thing that did the vacuuming, so Darcy headed to the bathroom instead, spritzing the shower with the cleaner and letting it sit while she wiped down the countertops. She took the time to scribble a quick note on a post-it and stuck it to the mirror before she finished up. After making the bed, she was pretty satisfied with the way she’d left things. It was clean and actually smelled like the lemon stuff she’d used.

There was still time to spare, so she pulled out her phone and ordered some flowers to be sent to Karen’s work. Tulips, because she distinctly remembered her saying she liked them.

Then she spun around and took a selfie in front of Karen’s clean kitchen. Before sending, she added a caption. “Tidied up around here before I had to leave.” She signed it with two hearts and reminded her of their plans to get Chinese food that night in the text following the picture.

She wasn’t really expecting any response back, but when her phone dinged on her way out, she pulled it out and grinned.

_KP: - “Can’t leave you alone for a second, can I? How long did that take you?”_

_DL: - “Pshhhh like no time at all.”_

_KP: - “You’re awesome, you know that?”_

_DL: “Yeah, but I like it when you say it.”_

_KP: - “I’ll say it more often then. See you tonight, Awesome.”_

_DL: - “Not if I see you first, Kare-bear.”_

She grinned and thought about all the ‘Awesome’ that was about to be delivered to Karen’s desk. She kind of liked being Awesome. Especially when Karen deserved nothing but awesomeness from everyone in her life and got it from pretty much no one.

Darcy wasn’t about to let that slide by. She’d be the Awesome in Karen’s life. Just like Karen was hers.


	6. dreams

Karen didn’t like hiding things from Darcy, but she wasn’t sure Frank was something she could tell her girlfriend about. 

He was kind of dangerous. Scratch that, he was _very_ dangerous, and while Karen knew exactly why Frank had been treated the way he had, she still sort of worried that Darcy wouldn’t understand, so she kept it to herself. 

He’d texted her that day. Asked for a meet-up later, and she hadn’t replied yet. She let the message sit there on her phone until it was well past bedtime and Darcy was yawning and dragging Karen off towards the bedroom. 

The dreams she had that night weren’t the greatest. In them, Darcy had been kidnapped. Held for information. And Frank was trying to save her. Except Darcy didn’t know who he was, so she was running from him. 

Karen wasn’t sure where she was in this dream, other than an omnipresence watching from above as Darcy hid, shivering in a wet, rainy alley while both Frank and the nameless baddie tried to find her. 

She must have been tossing and turning because when she woke up, all the pillows were on the floor, along with most of the bedding. As she scrambled to pull all of it back up on the bed with her, she realized something. 

Her bed was empty. 

Darcy wasn’t there. 

A knot clenching in her gut, she rolled from the bed and out to the living room, skidding to a halt in the kitchen door. 

“Heya babe,” Darcy said, raising her spoon in a sort-of-wave. “Me and Frank were getting our Cap’n Crunch on. You want some?” 

Karen frowned, taking in the scene before her. Frank and Darcy. Bowls. Spoons. Milk. Cereal. 

“You and Frank, were--” 

“Sorry ‘bout that. You didn’t text me back and I got worried, so I came to check up on ya. This one almost tasered me,” Frank gestured to Darcy. “You didn’t tell me you had a girl, Karen.” He smirked and took another bite of cereal. 

“You didn’t tell _me_ you had one of him,” Darcy countered. “Why wouldn’t you tell me you know Frank Castle?” 

“You’re impressed?” Karen asked, accepting the bowl and taking a seat. 

“Of course! I mean, I still am winning in the name dropping department. I know Steve Rogers. And I know Bucky Barnes’s Starbucks order. It’s not what you’d think.” She set the spoon down to drink the milk out of the bowl. “He likes caramel. Like a lot. Like more than any normal person would.” 

Karen glanced over at Frank, relieved to see him gazing with approval between the two of them. She should have just told Darcy. Of course she’d have been okay with it. 

“I gotta use the john,” Frank said, rising. “But when I get back, you gotta tell me how you two met. I’m a sucker for a cute story.” 

“Who said it was a cute story?” Darcy scoffed, winking at Karen, who beamed and shook her head. 


	7. stars

Karen knocked on Darcy’s door again, frowning because she could have sworn Darcy had just said she was home. 

Her phone buzzed again. 

_DL: “I’m on the roof.”_

Of course. 

Karen turned and walked back toward the stairwell. It was the first somewhat comfortable night that they’d had in a while, weather-wise. It only stood to reason that Darcy would be up on the roof the first chance she got. 

Her apartment was on the top floor of the building, and she was also one of only two or three residents in her building that utilized the roof for garden space. While it was too cold to start anything growing just yet, Karen knew her girlfriend liked to get her hands dirty every chance she got. She was likely weeding the beds. 

When she finally made it up to the roof, she pushed the door open and propped it back with a cinderblock nearby. “Darce?” she called. 

Darcy’s head popped up across the roof, behind one of the raised beds. “Hey, babe! Over here!” She waved, and sure enough, her hands were caked in dirt. 

Karen smiled and made her way over to where Darcy was currently pulling dead plants out of the beds and digging her fingers into the dirt to loosen it. “What you up to?” she asked, setting her bag down on one of the patio tables. 

“Cleaning out some of the beds to get them ready for the spring,” Darcy replied. 

“Need some help?” Karen asked. 

“Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s almost too dark, the stars are gonna be out soon.” 

The ‘stars’ Darcy was referring to weren’t actual stars, because it was too bright in the city to see anything remotely celestial. The ‘stars’ were actually a neon sign that flickered on at six p.m. every evening at the bar across the street. It was blue and white neon, and the stars were actually little dots with a moon that signified that the bar was open late. 

Karen pulled up an empty deck chair and sat down, watching as Darcy dug through the bed and tossed roots and dead plants over to the side for the next few minutes, until both of them were squinting and the neon stars across the street flickered on. 

After that, Darcy wiped her hands on the front of her jeans and came over to sit with Karen on the deck chair. 

Karen wrapped her arms around her and the two of them laid back to stare at the sky. 

“You ever wish we lived somewhere else?” she asked absently. 

“What like we were lady farmers who raised animals and had a greenhouse that sold heirloom seedlings to everyone in our small town and the bougie people who drove out from the city? Like we have four dogs that we call our fur children and wear overalls all day? Nah. I never think about that,” Darcy deadpanned. 

“Okay, just checking,” Karen chuckled, leaning over to kiss Darcy’s cheek. 


	8. still

The room was almost as still as death. Or it would have been if it weren’t for the box fan Darcy had running for the white noise. But that was to keep her ears from ringing in the silence. 

And the stillness. 

But it, unfortunately, didn’t keep her brain from running differing scenarios over and over about the woman next to her and the upcoming Easter weekend. 

Darcy’s family wasn’t what anyone would call religious. Her mom was baptized a Protestant in her teens but had kind of pulled away from the whole church scene since getting married and having kids. 

Her dad’s family was Jewish, but he didn’t practice. He did offer to drive Darcy to Hebrew School every weekend when she was a kid, though. She’d gone for a little while, but nothing really stuck. She was happy with her non-religious upbringing. It also meant that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny reigned supreme in their household and her mom had the tackiest egg hunt every single year. 

Darcy went home every single year, fought her brother in a breakneck egg hunt and chewed on her bad-tasting chocolate bunny all evening. She was the picture of smugness eating that stale chocolate ear. 

And this year, she was planning on going again, of course. 

But her mom had extended the invitation to Karen as well. And Darcy still hadn’t told her. 

It was a long-ass drive. Or an expensive round trip plane ticket. Whichever. 

It was a commitment. And yeah, they were kind of on that commitment road, but this? This was a big one, and Darcy didn’t know if she should ask her or not. 

It was eating her alive. The millions of responses Karen could give. 

_“Egg hunts are for babies. We’re breaking up, like… now.”_

Okay, that one was highly improbable. 

_“I don’t know if we’re there yet… Montana is like… far away?”_

That one was a little more plausible. 

And geez, if Darcy had to fly or drive all the way to Montana on her own, knowing that her girlfriend didn’t think they were ‘there’ yet, she was going to spontaneously combust from embarrassment. 

But if she didn’t ask her, Karen might be offended. 

And offending her in either situation felt like an impossible decision. 

Darcy chewed on her bottom lip and Karen rolled over beside her. 

“Out with it, Darce. You’re keeping me awake with all your worrying and gnawing on your lip.” 

“I’m not vocally gnawing,” Darcy argued. 

“Still. Out with it.” 

“Fine…” she sighed heavily and closed her eyes, kind of wishing she was some sort of religious because she could totally pray about this if she was. “My family has this big huge egg hunt every year for Easter. Do you want to come to Montana with me?” 

“For Easter?” Karen asked. “Of course I do! Are there prizes?” 

“Yes,” Darcy exhaled, relief washing over her as she rolled over to kiss Karen’s lips. “I was worried you would say no.” 


	9. Spring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the big long break. Gonna try to finish this up little by little.

Okay, so the plane ticket wasn’t that expensive. And the flight itself was a lot more fun. Darcy actually found herself becoming excited for Karen to meet her family. 

Karen, on the other hand, was the picture of calm, even taking the time to take a cat nap on the plane and give Darcy some time to watch her sleep and daydream about being at home. Which was one of her favorite places. With Karen, who was one of her favorite people. 

The landing was a little rough, but since they had packed everything into carry-ons, they didn’t have to go looking for luggage. They could head to the car rental kiosk and rent something that guzzled gas like crazy but would make it up the incline of Darcy’s family’s driveway. 

It only took about four minutes for everyone to fall in love with Karen. Darcy’s mom dragged them both into the kitchen to show them the staggering number of eggs they’d colored in preparation. Nothing would go to waste, though. They’d be making egg salad, potato salad, and macaroni salad for the soup kitchen the next day. Mom promised to write down the recipes this time so Darcy could make it at home. 

“Mom, honestly… I never eat this stuff except here.” 

“Oh,” her mother sniffed. “Too good for mayonnaise in the old NYC, huh?” 

“Yes, you guessed it,” Darcy replied. 

Mom dragged Karen off to look at the hall of school pictures, and Darcy was going to follow except Ben grabbed her arm and pulled her in the opposite direction. 

“What?” she hissed at her little brother. He had just turned fifteen and wasn’t so little any longer, but she knew what his bullshit looked like, and she pretty much had just stepped in it knee-deep. 

“I didn’t know you were lesbian,” he said. “I thought you were American.” 

“I am going to kick your tiny ass, Ben…” Darcy swatted at his arm and he laughed and jumped out of dodge. 

“ _Hey_ , I thought you liked that Vine!” 

Rolling her eyes, she had to nod. “Fine, yeah. I liked it. It’s funny. Shut up.” 

“Naw, but for real. You guys look happy. Don’t fuck it up, Sissy.” 

“Fucking watch your profanity,” she countered. 

Ben grinned and fake-punched her arm before ducking her responding swing and narrowly missing Dad with a big bowl of plastic eggs. 

“Hey, Hey, Bennet,” Dad chastised. “You make me drop it, you’re filling it again.” 

“I’m out, call me when it’s time to find them!” he called, bounding up the stairs past Karen and Mom who were coming back into the kitchen. 

“I filled twice as many eggs this year,” Dad whispered. “Since Karen’s here.” Darcy shot him a look. “Hey now, this is the only time your mom lets me get candy. Let me live.” 

Karen slipped her arm through Darcy’s and steered her to the living room. “I love your second grade picture the best.” 

“Is that the one without front teeth?” 


	10. Daylight

The first light of dawn peeked through the cracks in the window blinds around the same time that Darcy’s phone alarm started ringing. Karen’s legs were tangled with hers, the blankets were tight around them. The warmth was that nice warm, not a sticky, humid one. It was pretty much perfect. 

She was awake, but not fully. And the blaring of the phone wasn’t welcome at this moment, thanks. “Arghhh,” Darcy groaned, extending her arm and reaching over to hit the snooze. 

“You could just turn it off,” Karen mumbled. 

“Mom’s going to be in here waking us up in like fifteen…” Darcy replied, turning and burying her head in Karen’s shoulder. 

“All the more reason to turn it off,” her girlfriend mumbled, pulling the blanket up over the both of them. The bed was cramped with both of them up here, but it was warm. And cozy. And they’d stayed up altogether too late the night before playing Phase Ten. “What time’s our flight anyway?” 

“Not till ten-thirty,” Darcy groaned. 

“So why--” 

“That’s Mom. She has to make sure everything’s in order and nothing can go wrong.” 

She felt Karen chuckle a bit. “So why can’t we go back to sleep for fifteen minutes?” 

“I wanted time to cuddle you before the chaos ensues.” 

“Aww…” Karen pressed her lips gently to Darcy’s temple. “That’s so sweet. I _almost_ want to wake up.” 

Darcy snorted softly. “Such lukewarm sentiment.” 

“You know I’m joking,” Karen replied, pushing up to prop her head on her hand, her elbow on the bed. Her blonde hair was beautifully mussed and the sunlight was streaming in through the window even more now, it seemed to light her hair on fire like it was white-hot. 

Darcy let her head fall against her pillow as she gazed up at her. “You’re so pretty in the morning.” 

“Dork,” Karen teased. “Also-beautiful-in-the-morning-dork.” 

Darcy bit down on her bottom lip to stifle whatever words almost came tumbling out. 

Karen closed the distance between them, her lips felt soft on Darcy’s and it stirred something deep down in her belly. Tilting her head, Darcy deepened the kiss and earned a tiny moan out of Karen. Her fingers twisted in Darcy’s pajama shirt, tickling the skin underneath. Darcy pushed a lock of hair out of Karen’s face and cupped her cheek, sliding her tongue into her mouth. 

“We really can’t do this here,” she whispered. 

“Why not?” Darcy grinned, going back for another kiss when a knock sounded at the door. 

“Knock, knock!” Mom called. “Rise and shine, sleepyheads!” 

Sighing, Darcy pressed her head to Karen’s. “That’s why?” 

“That’s why,” Karen grinned, leaning forward and pecking Darcy’s lips again. She repeated the action, lingering enough to suck her bottom lip into her mouth. 

Mom knocked again. 

“To be continued.” 

“When we get back to New York?” Karen asked. 

“The second we get back to my place,” Darcy promised, pulling back the blanket and sliding out of bed to go open the door. 


	11. Grow

Darcy held both pots in front of her, eyeing her balcony and looking back at the plants. She could move them both out there and see how they fared. But if the Alocasia Polly got too much direct sun, it might burn up, and then she’d be stuck with another pot of dirt that used to be a houseplant. 

She set the alocasia back on the shelf where she got it but decided to take the ficus outside. 

There was a knock at her front door. “It’s me!” she heard from the other side. 

Smiling, she walked toward the door, placing the potted ficus on her hip as she turned the knob and swung it open. “Heya, babe.” 

“Hey… I found this…” Karen was not only here, she came bearing plants. If you could really call it a plant. It was mostly crispy leaves, but Darcy could definitely spy a little bit of green there as well. 

“Found it where? Dying in an alley?” 

“No! My neighbor had it on his porch. I asked him if he was keeping it, he said no. So I took it for you. Any idea what it is? Or was?” Karen held out the black nursery pot and Darcy peered inside for a long moment. 

“It might be a monstera of some kind… or a philodendron? It’s definitely an aroid,” Darcy said definitively. 

“An aroid, huh? Didn’t know you were so skilled in botany…” 

Darcy laughed. “Hon, if you knew how many different aroids there are… the equivalent would be looking at like… I don’t even know, a bobcat? And then telling you that it was definitely a feline.” 

Karen laughed. “Well, it fooled me.” 

“Okay hold on a sec. Let me go pop this dude outside and I’ll come back for that one.” 

Darcy slid open the glass door to the balcony and stepped out, placing the ficus where it was sure to get the best morning sun and promptly turning back around to return. 

She took the pot from Karen. It was light as hell and the dirt was all stuck together. “I might have to soak this… Let me go plug the sink and run some water…” 

While they waited for the sink to partially fill up, Darcy placed the pot on the counter and turned to hug and kiss her girlfriend. “Didn’t get to say hello properly…” 

Karen leaned down to kiss her lips briefly. “Hi there, beautiful…” 

Darcy turned off the water and plopped the pot down into the sink, using a clean glass to scoop some of the water into the pot. 

“Think you can rehab that?” 

“Definitely. If it’s a monstera, it’ll get huge, too.” 

“Good. If this apartment doesn’t look like a jungle, you’re not doing it right,” Karen replied. 

“You’re awfully supportive of my addiction,” Darcy said. “For someone with a black thumb.” 

Karen rolled her eyes. “I don’t have a black thumb. I’m just never home.” 

“If that’s what you have to tell yourself.” 


	12. New

The kitten mewed loudly, his teeny voice piercing the silence in the stairwell of Karen’s place. 

“Oh goodness gracious,” Darcy cooed, bringing the cat carrier up so she could peer inside. The kitten was wailing his little heart out. “Oh baby, no… we’ll be there soon, and I can get you out for cuddles, sweet thing.” 

He had gray markings on his ears, nose, and feet. Bright blue eyes and a meow that could carry. All of that said Siamese to her, but according to the shelter, he was just a stray someone brought in. 

_“Raow! Raow!”_

“No, baby, no…” Darcy crooned, making little shushing sounds as she walked down the hall to Karen’s place. “We’re almost there, don’t worry.” 

She knocked on the door and Karen answered a few seconds later, a kitchen towel in one hand, both of which were covered in her purple dishwashing gloves. “You found one already?” Karen squealed, which only caused the kitty to start wailing again. Whether he was scared or simply just trying to compete, Darcy didn’t know. 

“Yes, yes… but let us in, because his royal highness, The Squealer, wishes to inspect his domain.” 

Karen grinned and shut the door behind Darcy. 

She set the carrier on the ground and opened the gate. The shelter workers had told her to leave it open and walk away, to let the kitten come out on his own. 

But he was out in a flash. Almost quicker than Darcy could get the thing opened. 

He was out and darting around Karen’s living room. 

“Did you like… make sure he can’t get into anywhere dangerous?” Darcy whispered to Karen. 

“For the millionth time, yes. I kitty-proofed this apartment. You helped, actually,” her girlfriend laughed. “So if anything’s amiss it’s your fault.” 

“My fault?” Darcy squeaked, loud enough to stop the kitten in his tracks. He was poised right beside Karen’s box of vinyl records. He had one paw on the edge of the crate and looked like he was about to attack David Bowie. 

“Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, baby boy!” Karen scurried over to quickly scoop the kitten into her arms. The kitten promptly snuggled down, meowing in short little bursts that almost sounded like he was talking. 

“I think he just named himself. Well, thanks to his impeccable taste in vinyl records,” Darcy laughed. 

Karen was stroking him behind the ears. “What’s that?” 

“Bowie,” Darcy replied. 

“Bowie,” Karen repeated, looking down at the kitten in her arms. “How about it, do you approve, little man?” 

Bowie meowed again, making them giggle as Darcy crossed the floor to stroke the top of his head. “I think he likes it.” 

“Let’s see if he likes where his litter box is… because that would be amazing.” 

Darcy had to smile because while Karen had been the most on the fence about getting a cat together, she certainly was hogging all his attention now. But then again, he was an adorable little fella. He was a keeper. 

**Author's Note:**

> See y'all tomorrow!
> 
>   
> 


End file.
